"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

Tara glared forward at her reflection in the mirror.

She had been sitting there for the better half of the past hour, trying desperately to tame her hair into something that was the semblance of acceptable for the wedding that they were expected to be at fairly soon. 

In the end, with a huff of annoyed defeat, she had opted to simply wind the strands into two braids down and over her shoulders.

As she absentmindedly tugged at the ends, trying to force them to become the same length without her having to completely re-do them for the fifth time, she suddenly noticed that another figure had joined hers in the mirror's reflection.

Propped up in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his face, was Theseus. He was done up in a fairly smart-looking suit, but had clearly done next to nothing with his hair.

Tara silently cursed him for that. That man could go through an entire battle and somehow his hair would come out of it perfect.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, her hands falling into her lap.

Theseus let out a low laugh, pushing himself off of the wall and walking further into the room.

“Longer than you’d like, I’m sure.”

Tara rolled her eyes, running her hands down the front of her black dress a few, repetitive times. She then looked at Theseus’ reflection again, gesturing down with a wave.

“Well…how do I look?”

Theseus put on a false expression of pensiveness.

“Hmmm.” he mused for a moment. “I think you’re gonna have to change.”

Tara blinked in surprise.

“What? Why?”

A mischievous smile slowly appeared on the wizard’s face.

“I think you’re gonna upstage the bride.”

Tara felt her face ignite with heat, an embarrassed groan falling out of her throat as she severed eye contact in the mirror.

“Theseus Scamander I do not have time for this.” she grumbled.

The Auror simply continued to laugh.

Staring harshly at the mirror, Tara fought back the desire to once more re-braid her hair. Instead, she reached for the two, small black ribbons that were laying on the top of the desk. Bringing them each up to the bottom of the respective braids, she quickly tied them into bows.

As she did so, Theseus appeared behind her, his hands coming to a gentle rest on the tops of her shoulders.

When she inevitably dropped her hands from her hair, she hesitantly re-directed her attention back to the wizard's reflection.

There was a singular beat of silence before Theseus suddenly let out a breath, shaking his head from side to side.

“How in Merlin’s name did I get so lucky?”

All joking tones in his voice had gone. And the genuine awe that appeared in his eyes was something that Tara had in fact seen before but somehow, after everything that they had gone through these past five years…suddenly felt immensely different.

There had always been a part of her that had been overprepared to lose him. Having lost damn near everything and everyone else, she had constantly primed herself for that reality, every time one of them so much as walked out their front door. Or even, more buried in her subconscious, the reality in which he left of his own accord, upon deeming her nature far too much to deal with. She had been so ready for both those universes, no matter how much they would surely hurt to live in.

But this one…

The one in which she hadn’t lost him. The one in which his love for her only seemed to grow over the years just as furiously as hers did…she hadn’t been prepared for it.

Tara stood up from the chair, finally turning to face Theseus head-on. Her eyes took a long moment to dance across his expression, committing every inch of it to her memory before finally, a soft smile of her own made its way onto her face.

Reaching out, she gently ran her hands down the front of his suit, smoothing down the lapels a few times.

“If we’re going to talk about luck…” she started, glancing back up at his face. “I think I’m the winner there.”

With a pointed scoff, Theseus’ reached up to cover her hands with his own, keeping her palms pressed to his chest. 

“Is everything a competition to you?”

Tara smirked.

“Pretty much.”

With one last roll of his eyes, Theseus leaned down to press a quick, but purposeful kiss onto the witch’s lips.

“C’mon.” he mumbled as he pulled back. “We’re gonna be late.”

The two of them quickly grabbed their coats and wands before finally apparating out of their London homestead.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───

Tara and Theseus appeared on a mostly dark, sleepy, New York street a few moments later, the residual wind from their apparation blowing their hair slightly as they got their bearings. When they did, they noticed that the only real source of light, outside of the small lanterns that dotted the edges of the sidewalks, was pouring out of the front windows of a nearby building. The golden letters printed on the glass read; “Kowalski’s Bakery.”

Standing just outside the front door, was none other than the youngest Scamander brother. 

In his hand, Newt was holding a small piece of paper and was seemingly muttering under his breath as his eyes darted across what was printed there. He was pacing anxiously up and down the sidewalk as he did so.

Snow was gently falling all around them, with about two or so inches already coating the street. It was cold, but somehow still magical in its own right.

Tara’s eyes suddenly drifted past Newt, instead taking note of the semi-shadowy figure that was making its way towards the bakery, coming from the opposite direction that they had arrived in. As they passed underneath one of the streetlamps, the soft light briefly illuminated their face, causing Tara’s eyes to widen in slow recognition.

Theseus had made a move towards his brother, lips parting in what she assumed to be a greeting of some sort, so Tara quickly reached over and all but slammed her hand over his mouth. 

The Auror whipped his head towards her incredulously, but she just gestured back with her head, not daring to say a word.

“The maid of honor, I presume?” the Magizoologist spoke almost immediately as she had done so.

Tina Goldstein finally stepped out into the light of the bakery. There was a shy smile on her face, and her hands were buried deep within her jacket pockets as she stopped a few paces in front of Newt.

“The best man, I gather?” the witch replied warmly.

Theseus finally fell still, his realization setting in. So, Tara quickly dropped her hand from his face as the two of them continued to watch on in complete silence.

“You’ve done something with your hair?” Newt asked.

“No. Oh…well, yes, actually. Just for tonight.” Tina stumbled over a response.

“Well, it suits you.”

Tina beamed.

“Thank you, Newt.”

Tara found herself biting back a smile of her own.

Another crack of wind echoed over the otherwise quiet streets as a figure apparated into existence perfectly in the middle of the two groups of two.

Lally brushed her hair over her shoulder, her head tilting from side to side in order to greet everyone gathered there with a smile. At her arrival, Theseus and Tara deemed it safe enough to finally make their way closer to the bakery.

“Hello.” 

Newt reached out to gently place a hand on Tina’s waist.

“Look who’s here.” he said happily.

The assembled wizards began to exchange pleasantries, and Tara made a point to reach over with her free hand to shake Tina’s. She suddenly felt like a teenager again as she was formally introduced to the person her best friend had a crush on.

“How are you?”

“You look wonderful, Lally.”

“Well, thank you, Newt. I appreciate it.” the professor replied. She then gestured towards the piece of paper he was still clutching tightly in his hands. “Good luck.”

Newt winced.

Lally then turned to grab a pointed hold of Tina’s arm.

“Tina, come on. You must tell me how MACUSA’s been.” she said brightly, escorting the Auror inside the bakery.

Newt had made a step, as if to follow them, but stopped dead in his tracks. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder, as if hearing something call out to him.

Following his gaze, Tara was quick to notice that there was a person sitting on the bench directly across the street from where they stood. He was safely obscured by the shadows, but even she could recognize the coat and hat that he was wearing.

“What about me?” Theseus called out to his brother, breaking the growing silence. “How do I look?”

Newt turned his head back to the two wizards still standing outside with him.

“You look fine.” he replied shortly, glancing down at his paper again.

Tara tilted her head to the side.

“You alright, Newt?”

“Yeah, I’m alright.”

“You’re not nervous, are you?” Theseus asked. “Can’t be nervous about a speech after saving the world.”

Newt didn’t respond. Instead, his attention briefly returned to the figure across the street. And when he did inevitably glance back at the couple, Tara just nodded her head over her shoulder. Wordlessly telling him to go.

With that permission, the Magizoologist was quick to trot across the snow-covered street, leaving behind a trail of footsteps as he went. He ultimately landed in front of the bench, beginning a soft conversation that neither of them could make out. 

Tara tilted her head up towards the sky, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing as snowflakes softly landed on top of her nose and cheeks. 

That’s when the front door of the bakery suddenly burst open.

“Hey, Newt!” Queenie’s high-pitched voice echoed out across the street.

Glancing back at the building in surprise, Tara found herself looking at the bubbly, blond American witch. She was fully done up in her brilliant white wedding dress, and was illuminated by the soft glow of the bakery lights, giving her already bright expression and excitable smile and even more enchanting glow. 

“Jacob seems to think he’s lost the ring!” Queenie continued to call out to the Scamander across the street. “Please tell me you’ve got it!” 

Newt looked down at his coat pocket for a moment before immediately picking his head back up.

“No, it’s all good!” he assured her.

At Tara’s side, Theseus let out a low rumble of a laugh.

Queenie sighed in relief, sending the wizards in front of her a quick smile in greeting before slipping back inside.

As Newt went back to speaking with Dumbledore, Tara found herself staring off into the middle-distance. 

At the mere mention of a ring, she had been rather violently brought back down to the earth. And the feeling of Theseus’ hand in hers was suddenly red hot. 

Eventually, Newt returned to their side of the street. They watched him pocket his speech, before offering them both a shy smile and disappearing inside the bakery without another word.

On the other side of the windows, they could see people flitting about, both Muggle and wizard alike. The wedding cake was also visible, propped up just behind the main counter, and clearly of Jacob’s own meticulous design.

Immediately after the door closed behind Newt, someone else came hurrying down the street. She wore a dress with a simple pattern of red roses printed on it, and was shuffling through the snow with some semblance of anxious urgency. 

Bunty didn’t even glance at Tara or Theseus before she was practically throwing open the bakery door and stumbling inside. 

At that, Theseus let out a small but amused scoff.

“We should probably head in too.” he noted, making a move towards the door.

But just before he could reach out and grab for the handle, he found himself met with subtle resistance, as the witch holding his hand remained completely stationary.

Peering back over his shoulder, the wizard raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You alright?” he asked, immediately moving back into her personal space.

Tara’s expression was mostly blank, her eyes briefly darting across his face before forcing herself to swallow in an attempt to quell the growing dryness in her throat.

Maybe this was a bad idea. It had been so long since the last time after all. Perhaps he no longer even wanted to-

Tara quickly shook her head.

“Theseus…” she started, her words coming out in a barely audible whisper.

The Auror blinked.

“Yeah?”

Tara swallowed a second time.

“Ask me.” she finally managed to cough. “Ask me again. Please.”

Theseus’ reaction was slow setting. With every passing second, his eyes seemed to widen a fraction of an inch more. Snow had begun to collect on both of their shoulders at that point, as the entire world fell impossibly quiet around them.

A smile finally exploded across the man’s face, one of the widest that she had ever seen to date. He immediately slipped his hand out of hers in order to dive towards his pants and coat pockets instead, fumbling around for only a few seconds before producing a black, velvet box out in between them.

Tara let out a surprised scoff.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been carrying that with you all this time.” she said breathlessly.

Theseus stared back at her with all the sincerity in the world.

“Tara, I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen goddamn years old.” he declared. “You’re it for me. Always have been. And always will be. I was willing to be buried with this box in my pocket if you never did end up changing your mind.”

Tara felt the hot burn of tears beginning to materialize at the bottom of her eyes, and her chin had begun to tremble.

Theseus smiled once more before carefully lowering himself down into the snow, flicking the back of his suit jacket out slightly so he didn’t catch it on his heel as he did. Propped up one knee, Theseus held up the small box that was now resting gently in the center of his palm. 

Tara had to do her best to keep from breaking into a sob right then and there, before he had so much as spoken a word. She bit down hard on the inside of her bottom lip as she watched the Auror set his shoulders with a particularly deep breath.

“We live in a dangerous, violent world.” Theseus began to say, snowflakes continuing to pile on his head and shoulders. “And it’s terrifying to wake up every single day not knowing what is going to happen next. But when I do wake up, and it’s next to one of the boldest, strongest witches I have ever known…that terror is instantly gone. You are the very reason that I am able to do what I do, Tara. And I’ve always wished that I could become the same for you. Someone who you could feel safe with. Someone who you didn’t always have to be so damned headstrong around”

A teary laugh escaped Tara’s throat at that, playfully rolling her eyes. But by then, tears were already streaming down the sides of her faces.

“So, Tara Kelly…” Theseus started again, clicking the box open. “Will you give me the extraordinary honor of becoming your husband? Will you marry me?”

And there it was.

That very same stomach flip and drop that had overcome her every single time that he had asked her in the past. That same churning that would come every time he so much as whispered that he loved her. A warmth as sweet as honey and as hot as tea seeped through her body, and despite standing covered in a thin layer of snow, she was no longer cold.

She nodded, a wide smile lighting up her face.

“Yes.” she replied, as boldly as she could manage. “Yes, I will.”

Theseus was unable to hold back the giddy and downright boyish laugh that tumbled out of his throat. He immediately pushed himself back up and onto his feet, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.

Taking a hold of her left hand, he slid a cold, metal band onto her fourth finger.

It fit perfectly.

Tara looked from it, to Theseus’ face, her eyes shining brightly.

“It’s silver.” she whispered.

Theseus’ eyes were also watering by that point.

“Yeah, well, you hate gold, so…”

Tara let out a quiet laugh.

“I do.”

With his free hand, Theseus encased the right side of her face, pulling her lips up to his in a flash. Tara’s arms immediately encircled the wizard’s neck, having to stand on the tips of her toes in order to tug him down to her height.

And it was in that moment that Tara found, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t afraid.

She realized that there had not been a single moment in which she hadn’t been so. She had always feared the world around her, because it had constantly been doing horrible things to her and the people that she cared about the most. In response, she had been forced to build up the person that she paraded around; the tough and violent witch that could, and would, single-handedly take on anything that stood in her way. And while she had succeeded in most of those endeavors…she had always been terrified.

But then there was Theseus Scamander. Stumbling into her life and somehow lighting it up a tenfold. Whether it was him patching up her injuries in the Hufflepuff common room, rescuing her from Grindelwald, or defending her within the walls of the Ministry…he had always been there.

And now she knew, that with him, she no longer had to be afraid.

When the two of them eventually separated, they were terribly reluctant to abandon their shared oxygen.

Tara slid her hands back down to his chest, and there they remained for a moment as she felt the far away, but rapid beating of his heart.

Theseus was smiling back down at her, his eyes clouded with tears and pure, unaltered love. He gently bumped his forehead up against hers, letting out a low chuckle.

“Guess fourth times a charm, huh?” he whispered.

“Shut up, Scamander.” she muttered in return, tugging him down for another quick kiss.

Despite wanting to stay there on the snowy sidewalk forever, they both knew that it they remained outside for any longer, they were in danger of not only catching a cold, but missing the ceremony completely. So eventually, they did manage to untangle themselves just enough for them to meander back towards the front door of the bakery.

As they stepped into the warm light flowing out of the window, Theseus swiftly brought her left hand, which he now had a rather possessive hold of, up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Tara Scamander…” he mumbled as he dropped it again. “...kinda has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“Uh, who said I was the one taking your name?”

Theseus instantly let out a low groan, even while pulling the door open for her.

“You are going to be the death of me, woman.”

Tara let out a wild giggle, leaning up to kiss him one last time before slipping inside the bakery, pulling a dopey Theseus along with her.

The small group had quickly sat themselves down into the small cluster of fold-out chairs packed into the middle of the quaint shop. The witnesses consisted of Tina, Lally, Bunty, Newt, Jacob’s singular employee Albert, and a few other members of both the magical and non-magical families of the bride and groom.

Queenie, decked out in her lovely lace wedding dress, had finally landed in front of Jacob and the minister, and the Muggle baker looked absolutely awestruck. 

“Wow. You’re so beautiful.” he said out loud, causing a chorus of “aww’s” to fill the room.

Queenie let out a soft laugh as the ceremony itself began.

At some point during the remarks, Tara had snaked her arms around one of Theseus’, leaning her head over to rest snugly against his shoulder. On her face was a faint but content smile that did not leave for the remainder of the evening.

Tara Kelly was 41 years old when she decided who the love of her life was. He was two years older than her, he was a prick, and his name was Theseus Scamander.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───